Early Morning Vatican Small-Group Tour - Rome

Overview

Enjoy the semi private early morning tour before the general Vatican Entrence

Highlights

Private guide for a more personalized experience

Recorded commentary by audio headphones

Small-group tour

Perfect for all ages and skill level

Once-in-a-Lifetime Experience

Skip the line

Know More about this tour

With the Semi-Private Vatican Tour, you will visit the Vatican Museums and see the Sistine Chapel with a professional tour guide in a small group of maximum 13 people. This will give you the perfect chance to fully enjoy one of the most important museums in the world.

The Vatican Museums, with more than 1400 galleries and 6 million visitors per year, are usually extremely busy and crowded, especially during the high season when they may receive more than 30,000 visitors per day. This fantastic tour is designed for you to discover the Vaticans beautiful art in a quieter and more focused way.

Our tour guides are accredited by the Vatican and each possess many years of experience. They are incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about their work and they will tell you all about the fascinating history of the smallest country in the world. Let them reveal to you its secrets and the mysteries of its past.

Headsets will allow you to clearly hear your guide, even from a distance, giving you time to take pictures and have a longer look at your favourite pieces of art. You will see the highlights of the museums, the amazing galleries such as the Gallery of the Candelabra, where you can admire the rich collection of Roman sculptures, the Gallery of Tapestries and the Gallery of Maps, along with many other art treasures, sculptures, paintings and beautiful architecture.

Finally, you will enjoy Michelangelos remarkable Sistine Chapel in its entirety. After the tour, we will bring you into St. Peters Basilica through a special entrance, reserved exclusively for official guides and their groups.

By joining our Semi-Private Vatican Tour, you will skip both lines for the Vatican Museums and Saint Peters Basilica, thus avoiding a waste of your valuable time.

Inclusions for
Early Morning Vatican Small-Group Tour

Ticket admission

Reservation fee

Headsets to hear the guide clearly

Professional art historian

Guaranteed to skip the long lines

Small-group tour

Walking tour

Exclusions for
Early Morning Vatican Small-Group Tour

Hotel pickup and drop-off

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking

Children must be accompanied by an adult

A dress code is required to enter places of worship and selected museums. No shorts or sleeveless tops allowed. Knees and shoulders MUST be covered for both men and women. You may risk refused entry if you fail to comply with these dress requirements

There will be an airport-style security check before you enter St. Peter's Basilica; please leave liquids and sharp items at home.

It is not permitted to bring medium or large luggage, umbrellas or sticks (apart from those used for walking): it is advisable to bring small bags and rucksacks if needed; these items can also be left in the checkroom of the Vatican for free.

It is forbidden to bring any type of firearm or dangerous material into the Vatican Museums.

It is not possible to bring alcoholic beverages; it is also forbidden to eat or drink inside the halls of the museums.

SKIP THE LINE policy: Please be aware that entering the Vatican Museums means leaving Rome and going to a different State. During high seasons the Vatican welcomes more than 30.000 visitors per day! "Skipping the lines" means that we pay an additional reservation fee on top of the ticket price and prebook a privileged entrance for our groups; we always enter before the non-reservation line. We do not have any control of how the Vatican is organised therefore it is out of our hands if there is an unexpected wait.

Please also understand that the radio headsets are property of the Vatican. We are obligated to exclusively rent from them so we don't have any quality control over them, therefore if your headset doesn't have quality sound please let us know and we will take care of providing a replacement.

Cancellation Policy

If you cancel within 3 calendar days (72 hours) of the scheduled departure time, the cancellation charge will be 100% of the undiscounted tour price.

If you cancel between 4 to 7 Calendar days before scheduled tour departure,the cancellation charge will be 50% of the undiscounted tour price.

If you cancel at least 8 calendar days in advance of the scheduled departure time, there is no cancellation fee. You will receive Full Refund for the paid amount.

Please note that in case of No show, the cancellation charge will be 100% of the listed tour fare.

Write A Review

Rate this tour

8 Traveler Reviews

Louise COn 16-Oct-2017

Our guide was excellent. What we saw was amazing.
However, we paid a premium in order to skip the line - we
still had an hour in the line - less than if we had just
gone to line up then of course. However we could have lined
up ourself earlier for little price with a similar line.
It was extremely crowded inside as well - not private at
all.
Louise

megan.banksOn 05-Oct-2017

Be advised you will still be waiting in a line of group
tours, but it is not as long as the general admission and
you get to go in before it opens. This place can get
crowded, so doing a small group tour was well worth the
money. We had 6 people on our tour. Our guide asked if we
wanted headphones, this is a must, as it can get so crowded
and loud, so if you guide asks, accept!
We went on one of the busiest days in September, according
to our guide. It took us a long time to get in and out of
the Sistine Chapel. They had closed the group tour exit as
someone of high importance needed to use the exit, so we had
to wait about 15 minutes to be able to leave.
This tour finishes at the St Peters Basilica with plenty of
time to explore on your own. Highly recommend going up to
the top of the Basilica as it provides amazing views of
Rome,

david GOn 20-Sep-2017

Absolutely amazing, the lady who led the tour was very
good and knew a lot about the history.
Best way to see the Vatican, also missing the huge queues
and the heat.

PAULINE MOn 12-Aug-2017

Took this skip the line tour in August when the temps
were 40 degrees and avoided the long hot queues, even at
8.15am. The Vatican museum is so extensive we felt that we
didn't get time to view the half of it... all a bit rushed.
Would have liked to have had more time to stand and read
the information boards that particularly interested me.
Several members of our tour group took up the offer from our
Guide, to leave the tour near its conclusion, and spend more
time in the museum, as the ticket was valid for all day,
which I would advise others to do as you can wander inside
the museum at your leisure. For me, the best part of St
Peter's is the climb up and views from the dome, both inside
and out, so make sure you pay a few euros more and include
that part.

Deborah DOn 06-Aug-2017

The Museum is so vast, it would have been a lost without
a tour. Our guide was informative and did not rush us. A
great experience.

Sheila2580On 02-Aug-2017

This tour met at 8am. We had to walk to the Vatican and
get in line with another 100 people going in early. By the
time we did a bathroom stop and got coffee it was 10 to 9
where it was open to the public. So we went in ten minutes
early. I would suggest go before 7am.

Sylvia SOn 07-Apr-2017

A small group so Eugene our guide was very easy to follow
and extremely knowledgeable and funny. Really enjoyed the
experience and would highly recommend this tour.

Anne KOn 12-May-2016

Mido was a fabulous guide and all the information and
arrangements went very smoothly. It was fantastic to skip
the line which was already long at 8.30am. The Vatican
museums are awe inspiring and St Peter's Basilica is just
stunning - make sure you climb to the top and get the
wonderful view of Rome.